Reform of the Public Services in Pakistan

by Sohail Mahmood

Pakistan, after fifty-nine years of existence, is at a historical crossroads. The country faces an acute crisis of governance. Problems with the administrative set-up include poor planning, waste, mismanagement, inefficiency and the absence of a work ethic. Malfunction was the norm not the exception in the bureaucratic structure of the country. Excessive discretionary powers, overlapping of jurisdictions and the absence of clear-cut demarcations of authority and administrative control had weakened government performance. The gap between policy-making and policy-execution was wide partially due to weaknesses in the bureaucracy and the generally low quality of state personnel. Independent observers agree that the overall performance of the GOP was poor or lacklustre at best. The crisis of governance in Pakistan mainly stems from a deficient federal set-up and over centralisation of power in the national government. The World Bank, among others, believes that Pakistan had suffered due to rampant corruption and weak government that had created serious economic imbalances.

169 pages, Paperback

First published December 30, 2008

About the author

Sohail was born and raised in Pakistan. He got his higher education in the United States. Sohail is a university professor of political science and has taught in various universities and colleges of both Pakistan and United States for about 30 years. He has published widely on international politics of South Asia and the Middle East, development and governance issues of the region. Sohail has also tried his hand at poetry. He is married and proud parent of two grown up boys. He loves to travel and enjoys nature a lot.

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